Golf-ball cleaner.



C. C. WORTHINGTON. GOLF BALL CLEANER. APPLICATION FILED 1AN.4.1915.

y`1,29'2.,*286, Patented Feb. 4,19194 1m: mmm: Pun: m.

ruamunm, wAsmNnmN. n.

f iTnn sTnTns raTswT cranica.

CHARLES C. WORTHINGTON, OF DUNNFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

GOLF-:BALL ernannten.v

To all whom it may concern: v

Be it known that I, CHARLEsC.'WonTHING TON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Dunnfield, New Jersey, have' invented the followingdescribed Improve ments in Golf-Ball Cleaners.

This invention provides a cleaning device for golf balls, which is highly effective to remove stain and dirt but entirely harmless to the paint coating of the balls, and which is also inexpensive ininitial cost and in maintenance. j

It is a matter of importance in playing golf that the Vball be kept as clean as possible to avoid its becoming lost, for which reason it is customary to provide on each teeing round some means for cleaning the ball before playing` it. Theseordinary devices generally involve an abrasive action as obtained by rubbing the ball in sand or on a scrubbing brush or by placing it in a machine wherein it is subject to the action 0frotary brushes running in sandy or soapy water; all of these contrivances tend to wear away the white. paint coating rapidly, and at best are noteflectual or convenient agents for cleaning the ball. The present invention accomplishes the immediate removal of the dirt and Stain in a simple manner and without any injurious effect whatever on the paintcoating, and consists in the combination of a suitable mounting as herein de! scribed and av woven fabric, preferably a strip of cut-pile fabric such as ordinary Wilton carpet, properly clamped or supported thereon, and also consists in certain appurtenant details of such structure as also explained below and illustrated in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a golf ball cleaner according to this invention;

Fi 2 an end elevation of the bracket memer thereof, partly in section;

Figs. 3 and 4t being` a plan and cross-section, respectively, of a modified form.

The cleaning fabric is mounted 0n an upright support represented by a pipe member l, and two pipe legs 2 secured obliquely to it and forming therewith a tripod base of suliicient stability to withstand the pressure of the ball. The carpet-holding bracket is secured to the upper part of this supporting member, at a convenient height from the ground, by attachment means consisting 1n Specification of Letters .'iatent.

Patented Feb. d, 1919.

,Application led J' anuary 4, 1916. Serial No. 70,085.

the present case of fixed and movable parts, marked 3, adapted to be clamped upon the pipe by a pair of screws or bolts as illustrated, and so as to hold the bracket body 4: in an upright or vertical position. The bracket is formed with skeletonized bracket arms 5 at its upper and lower ends respectively, the lower arm extending outwardly and downwardly from the upright supporting member and the upper arm outwardly and upwardly. Each of these arms comprises two separated limbs connected at their extremities by cross-plates 6 forming .the fixed clamp beds for the strip of carpet 7, which latter is clamped thereon by movable Vclamp plates 8 of about the same width as the beds and intended to be disposed in marginal registry with them. These clamps 8 are provided with hook-shaped extensions 9 to the rear of the beds, preferably around the ends of the latter', where they carry thumb-screws 10 ,which thrust against seats in the rear faces of the beds, as plainly shown in Fig. 2. The beds 6 and their clamps 8 are purposely made relatively narrow so as to engage and hold the pile fabric by the least possible area of clamped surface consistent with security of attachment, and to aid in the security, the proximate faces of said parts are roughened or provided with spurs or projections 11 to engage or penetrate the carpet, and the thumb screws 10 are threaded with a slow-pitch to produce, easily, a strong clamping action. The pile fabric 7, 'being exposed to the weather, is likely to rot and break as the result of moisture retained in it, especially at its points of contact with its bracket, and such result is delayed and practically eliminated, entirely, by the narrowness of the clamped area and the pressure, and also by the upright position of the carpet and the skeletonized construction 0f the bracket, all

yond the clamp is trimmed off with a knife to avoid its retaining moisture as well as to improve the appearance, and for this purpose the extensions 9 are disposed at the ends of the beds as above described and the sides of the clamp and bed are straight and smooth to guide the knife. The device thus presents an initially flat stretch of carpet supported at its ends, but unsupported at itsy mid-portion, that is to say, the mid-portion-is unsupported in the sense that is capable of flexing or yielding inwardly or toward the body of the bracket when the golf ball is pressed against it.

In using the device, the ball after being wetted with water, is rubbed once or twice lengthwise of the piled surface, the pressure causing it to sink into the carpet and bend theflat stretch inwardly, as intended to be illustrated by Fig. l. The ball is thus made to occupy a cupshaped depression or groove in the carpet while advancing upon it, which position is perhaps more clearly illustrated in the modified form of Fig. 4, and which has the effect of producing contact with, and cleaning of, nearly one-half of the balls surfacewithout changing its position in the fingers, and this enables the ball to be cleaned on all sides with the fewest number of strokes. After a period of use, the carpet strip becomes slightly grooved or concaved from use, but thereby it becomes even more efficient, inasmuch as a larger area of the ball may thus have contact with it.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 3 and 4, thefprinciple involved is the saine as already described, but the longitudinal and transverse dimensions are here shown reversed so that the carpet is held by its side edges rather than at its ends, and the ball is cleaned by rubbing it on the yielding carpet parallel with its clamping means. The said means in this form consist of bed and clamping plates marked 6 and 8 respectively, the latter being provided with pointed screw studs 11 permanently fixed therein and adapted to be pushed through the carpet and through holes in the bed plates 6 receiving the thumbnuts 10 on their inwardly projecting ends. The pointed screw studs serve the purpose of the spurs 11 in the form first described and the edgesof the clamp and bed plates are also straight' and parallel in this form to provide a suitable knifeguiding edge as already explained, although, if desired, the carpet strip may be cut to size beforehand. The clamp beds of this form are supported at the ends of the arms 5 of the bracket body l having attachment means 3 and by 'which the carpetis sup ported in upright position.

In this form, as in thefirst, the ball occupies a pocket or depression when rubbed on the carpet, which is essential to the accomplishment of the cleansing operation and an important and characteristic feature of my invention.

I claim:

l. As a new article of manufacture, a cleaner for painted golfV ballsY adapted to be mounted on a fixed support to withstand pressure of a golf ball rubbed;` thereon and comprising a frame provided with rearward attachment means whereby itis held in position on said support, and a strip of fabric removably secured by its opposite margins to said framepand presenting an elongated yielding stretch adaptedto accommodate the rubbing stroke and adapted also to yield locally into substantially cup-shaped form.

under the pressure ofthe ball, said fabric having a forward surface adapted to cooperate withl the irregular balllsurface to remove stain from the depressions therein without appreciable abrasion of the paint onthe high spots thereof.

2. A device for cleaningigolfballs comprising a skeletonized bracket havingmeans of attachment to a fixed support and carrying clamping means andi a fabric secured by its opposite ends in said clamping means and presenting an initially flat stretch un-V supported in its mid-portion and adapted to be locally depressed into cup-shaped form by the pressure otf the golf ball rubbed thereon. l l

ln testimony whereof, I have signed this specification. i

CHARLES G. WORTHINGTYON.

Copiesv of thapatent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D C. i 

